'We will vote' say 700 Catalan mayors in referendum protest - AFP

More than two-thirds of Catalonia's 948 mayors have pledged to open municipal premises for the vote, prompting Spain's public prosecutor to order a criminal probe and threaten them with arrest if they do not comply.

"I'm not protesting in support of independence but in support of voting," said Josep Sole, the 74-year-old mayor of La Maso, a small 300-strong village in southern Catalonia. . . .

And all eyes are on the biggest of them all -- Barcelona.

Mayor Ada Colau supports a referendum, but she will not be directly involved. She has said she reached a deal with the regional government so residents will be able to vote "without putting institutions or public workers at risk."